


Dreaming of Broken Things

by Yuuko



Category: Frostiron - Fandom, Iron Man (Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Magic, gender fluidity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 09:04:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1092091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuuko/pseuds/Yuuko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki is a world renown thief and has stolen countless pieces of priceless objects the world over. No one has ever gotten close enough to capturing him, until one day he tries to steal the infamous arc reactor made by Tony Stark out of his own home. Loki fails miserably and ends up hurting himself. Tony finds him and to Loki’s surprise he doesn’t call the police…Tony is actually Loki’s biggest fan and is honored the thief tried to steal from him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreaming of Broken Things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lizlovelie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizlovelie/gifts).



> A gift for lizlovelie for the frostironfest gift exchange. I fiddled around a bit for the original prompt, but I hope it is to her liking all the same.  
> Set in an alternate universe where the characters have lead different lives and are not the same age as their original counterparts. Enjoy!

Dreaming of Broken Things  
An all black clad figure sat very still in the brush, listening to the waves crash against the cliff side, and the cars traveling down the road at the end of the drive. He turned his face upward to the sky and took a deep breath, smelling the future rain in the air around him. He was grateful to the heavens for not letting the rain begin until later in the evening, though it would be a good cover to his approach, rain lent itself to evidence he would rather not leave behind. A polished black Audi s8 went up the drive slowly, in the direction he too would soon be heading, so he knew it was almost time. Tony Stark, his body guard Happy, and Tony’s assistant and wrangler Pepper were expected in New York for a meeting that had already been rescheduled twice. There was a thrill of excitement in his chest as he waited for the car to make its way back down to the road. He relished this thrill, he was a thief out of necessity for his work, but at this point in his life he doubted he could find himself giving it up all together for the quiet life he used to long for. The wind carried the sound of voices to him in the far distance, but they were so distorted by their voyage to him that he couldn’t make out any of what they were saying. At the very least they were outside.  


In the last moments of his wait he ran through his plan: Up through the grass and trees, back door second floor, through the bedroom and down the stairs to the basement. No security system in effect, no guard dogs, nothing to stop him once the house was empty. The thief found it laughable that a man with so much money didn’t have any sort of security system installed, as far as his research had shown, after the break in at Stark Industries nothing had been added to the house. How foolish, didn’t he realize he was a welcoming target? What he found more surprising was that the stern and commanding Pepper Potts had not bullied her employer to do something about his safety at home. Happy could only do something about trouble if he was around to see it after all.  
A black Audi with tinted windows drove by, heading in the direction of traffic this time, before it turned a corner and joined the flow down below. He stood up gracefully and stretched his long limbs carefully getting the blood flowing before his performance.  
This particular break in was not part of his original plan. Usually if he missed his initial opportunity he sought another way around his dilemma, but he was out of choices, after the “mysterious” explosion at Stark Industries that took the life of one of the heads of the company, his entire plan had to be rewritten. The fire from the explosion had destroyed most of the section housing the prototypes he needed. Now the only one in existence was the original designed and hand made by Tony Stark himself. The Arc Reactor, producer of infinite energy, created in a cave in Afghanistan. Tony had worn it as a medal for a year or more, he supposed as a reminder of what he had survived during his capture and imprisonment. A strange device that fit into the palm of his hand, the energy can be felt like a presence to those that know what to search for in energy.  


He had to complete this mission, at least now it was a matter of robbery rather than perhaps murder to ripe it out of its creator’s hands. He had exhausted all other forms of long lasting energy, and there was no other choice. The last time he had tried running his experiments he had nearly been caught at home when he knocked out the power grid for his area for half a day. He couldn’t take risks like that anymore. He was so close.  


Carefully he made his way up the hill; picking to go through the dense collection of trees the Stark household landscapers had plotted rather than endangering himself and attempting to explore rock climbing. He was limber and strong, but he had no idea how dangerous it would really be going straight up with only rocks and waves to break his fall were he to take a bad step. It’s easier to go down rock cliffs than up. He thought when he met the edge of the trees and looked over at the water below.  
Up ahead he thought he heard something like a whistling sound, but shook the concerns of being spotted when the sound stopped as abruptly as it began. From what he knew of the Potts-Stark dynamic, he was certain Ms. Potts was coming close to resorting to unscrupulous behaviors to lure Tony away and get him to perform his job. He had witnessed firsthand the control Pepper could assert over Tony and understood why he followed her lead and direction, trusting her with practically everything in his life and company.  


The sun had completely set by the time he made it to the back door he had chosen for his entrance. Stark had done some of his personal remodeling on some things beyond what the original blueprints he had stolen showed, but the changes were not so great that he couldn’t work around them.  


The air was cleaner this far from the pollution of all of the traffic and overpopulated cities. He could see why his quarry decided to live this close and yet removed from the more heavily populated area. He appreciated his solitude and the liberty that came with living somewhere so open. Unfortunately, open like this also gave thieves like himself a lot of vantage points. Wasn’t there a saying about glass houses? He didn’t care much to put actual thought into it as he reached his hand forward, removing his leather glove before placing it palm flat against the wood above the lock. A deep breath slowly filled his lungs to carefully escape through his nose as he concentrated, feeling the wood shudder delicately under his fingers as it retracted so slightly from the door frame. The house gave a creek and then relaxed as if sighing under his touch.  


Inside he felt a shift happen that had nothing to do with what he was employing, but he pushed the thought aside as he tried to finish his work. No one is home, he assured himself. Tony might have a cat, he told himself. But it feel bigger than a cat, logic argued back, and Tony isn’t an animal person. He still pushed the thought aside, this was his second attempt at the machine, and he was not going to turn back.  


The door opened for him silently, revealing a room which appeared to be lost between the comforts of a bedroom and rigid structure an office and library. There were book cases in various corners housing thick binders and text books all relating to different types of sciences and engineering. “Thank you.” He whispered to the wood, letting his fingers trace along the door as he stepped carefully onto the hardwood floor. He expected this to be a simple guest room but it's true nature was of little concern for his mission. The thought floated in and out of his mind, a man as work driven and single like Tony wasn’t likely to have a house full of bedrooms.  


There was a laptop open on the desk to his far left, with a small cabinet between two tall book shelves. The cabinet had a refrigerator unit beneath it and above it was filled with cups, variations of coffees, teas, cookies and cereal bars. The black and chrome coffee pot was what caught his attention by releasing a soft hiss as it continued percolating. A frown pulled at his dark brows, the chime on the open laptop made him whirl around. Then the toilet flushed on the other side of a door tucked into the corner of the room. He waved his hand at the door, frantically commanding it to obey without his actual touch. The bolt stiffened to the frame, blocking the exit of whoever was in the facilities.  


He felt his heart pick up paces.  
They haven’t left!  


He cursed himself for not being more cautious, but was determined to succeed and quickly. He had broken in and out of high security locations in minutes before, this place hardly had so much as an alarm connected to a security company, and it had to be faster work. He didn’t like the alternative choices he was coming up with, even though he had planned multiple scenarios he was not overly pleased with them at the time.  


He took a calming breath before crossing the room and leaning against the door that lead into the hallway.  
“You are kind wood to still listen, even when you have been chopped and surrounded by so much steel and metal.” He whispered to the door frame caressing it with his bare hand. He smiled a little as he felt the woods version of a shiver and then it too opened for him, just enough to let him peer out into the hall.  


The sound of rattling from the bathroom door broke the silence.  
“Jarvis!” Pepper screamed from the bathroom as she banged on the door, clearly throwing her shoulder into it. “Tony!”  
“Jarvis?” He echoed, did he higher another body guard?  


He slid out of the room only to be startled by the most aggravating ear piercing waile from overhead followed by a smooth British voice that spoke over it. “There is an intruder in the second floor hallway.”  
He ducked down instinctively, trying to avoid being seen by any camera, though he couldn’t find one anywhere visible in the ceiling. “Emergency protocol 23791” it continued.  


A crash from behind him told him Pepper had broken out of the bathroom and she came hurtling down into the hall, a portable fire extinguisher carried in her right hand like a battering tool. He knew the presence he had felt earlier was her, but where was the man’s voice coming from. His attention was split too many ways, and she was coming at him meaning fully to make contact with him and the fire extinguisher.  


She was backing him up into the stair case, swinging the bludgeoning tool between them when he lost his footing and found that there was no guard rail to the steps. He rolled and crashed into a glass sculpture of sorts that sent shards and water everywhere. He was falling and he couldn’t tell where he’d land until a stomach churning crack shook his being causing a cry of agony to escape his lungs.  


The world swam around him with pain and blood and water. He vaguely made out what he thought was a large grey boulder nearby, was that really a boulder? He wondered tears of pain running down his pail face. It only took one attempt to slide away to realize he couldn’t move. Everything on his left side hurt. His blood was flowing freely from a crash to his arm and forehead as he realized he had twisted his left ankle on the way down.  


“Jarvis, cut the alarm.” He heard a man’s voice filled with authority. Tony, he realized. He kept his head down, rather than look up, stay unnoticed and pathetic, don’t make them want to move you, it hurts to much for that just yet.  
“Pep, did you have to try and kill him?” Tony sounded disappointed as he picked his way along the broken glass.  
“Tony, He barricaded me in the bathroom, and he’s sneaking around, what if he’s trying to kill you!” she sounded scandalized by the idea, still holding her fire extinguisher.  
“This guy?” Tony asked, kicking some of the broken glass away from where the thief lay quietly sobbing with his jaw set. “Doesn’t look at all like an assassin to me.” He dropped down on his knees; Tony reached out and brushed some of the blood soaked hair away from the other’s face. Instantly there was a knife drawn at him, waving towards Tony’s face. Tony’s reaction was just as fast, he grabbed the wrist and twisted it tucking his thumb behind other’s and pulling it, causing the knife to clatter to the ground.  


“Nice to meet you Grumpy Cat.” He grinned good-naturedly at the man who was half sagged on the ground beside him. “Sorry Pepper smacked you around.” He frowned a little at her.  
“Tony!” Pepper shrieked  
“Pepper!” He mocked back “He probably just wanted to see something, didn’t you buddy?” he asked looking him over more. “And Pepper over there had to throw you down the stairs.”  
“Tony Stark stop that!” Pepper carefully descended the staircase, avoiding the glass entirely by stopping at the foot of the steps and refusing to move. She was flushed red, her trusty weapon now clutched to her chest. “I didn’t throw him.” She added sounding a little less angry and more concerned, as she watched Tony carefully take hold of the man’s face to look into his green eyes.  
“Sir, the police will be here in two minutes.” Jarvis reported from overhead, making the thief freeze in his hands.  
“Thanks Jarvis.” Tony’s face fell to a frown for a moment as he thought quickly, instantly making up his mind.  
“Pepper, could you go handle the cops for us, they’re trying to crash our friend date, and that’s really a no go for us.”  
“Date? What?” Pepper flapped her arms. “Tony he’s breaking and entering!” she practically growled. “I’m not doing this for you.”  
“Sure you are, go tell them I got drunk and tripped my own alarm system.” He pouted at her, “I’m trying to make friends.” He carefully pulled the shivering thief to him. Immediately turning his attention away from Pepper.  
“What’s your name?” Tony asked, smiling at him warmly. “Pretty face like you has to have a name.” he was laying the charm on thick.  
“Tony.” Pepper hissed  
“Pepper, you’re killing our mood here.” He hissed back, turning to look at her with a frown, finally making her give up with them all together and walking out of the room.  
“You owe me, Tony.” She called over her shoulder as she slammed the door behind herself.  
“Loki.” He finally heard in a tone scarcely above a whisper.  
Tony turned to look back at him “What?” surprise pulled his brows up as he chuckled a little.  
“Loki.” The thief said with more strength to his voice this time. “My name.”  
“It’s nice to meet you Loki.” He tried to back up enough to give them room to stand.  
“Let’s get you cleaned up.”  
“Jarvis, get Dummy up here to get the glass.” Tony said in a slightly louder voice.  
“Yes Sir.” There was a two note beep and something began to rumble and move from downstairs.  


“Can you stand?” Tony asked standing up himself to assess his new guest a little better.  
“I’m unsure.” Loki responded, testing the motor functions he had available to his left hand. His wrist was swollen and bruised, and when he tried to move his ankle he felt pain shoot up his leg.  
“No go, huh.” Tony bent over “Guess I’ll have to carry you.” He wrapped an arm around Loki’s thin frame and another under his knees and hoisted him up.  


What was a creative curse escaped Loki in a foreign language Tony couldn’t understand as he felt himself be thrown into the air. He wrapped his good arm around Tony’s neck, clutching on as if fearful he’d be randomly dropped back onto the ground. He internally cursed his luck and his weakness wishing he could just escape rather than depend on the kindness of his would be quarry.  
“Jarvis, also please call Bruce, tell him it’s a house call, but not what happened, just say everything’s fine.”  


“Sir, I’ve been told to remind you that Dr. Banner is not a fully certified medical doctor, were you ever to call him for a medical reason.” There was a certain tone to the way Jarvis said medical doctor that made Loki question what Tony Stark put his friends through.  
“He won’t mind.” Tony said smartly as he placed the man carefully on the toilet, grateful that for once he kept the seat down.  
“Stay here.” He winked at Loki who was chewing on his cheek a silent war raging within himself this is not what he had wanted. Unfortunately his inability to walk on his own prevented him from attempting to continue with his robbery as it was or even escape. He just had to hope that he would be released when he was deemed healthy, though he hoped his freedom wasn’t handed over to the police to do as they saw fit. He kept his face as neutral as he could, aware that there was a guard in this house that was ever vigilant who was either robotic himself, or a man shut away in an office somewhere. More than likely, if he did something strange, someone would be notified of it immediately.  


Tony returned with the first aid kit and a stack of hand towels. “Luckily I know where this stuff is or that at least Jarvis can tell me where they were.” Tony smiled, “Don’t want you bleeding out while you’re waiting.” Loki frowned, unimpressed, though he would have if he could move his forehead, the blood was caking on and drying, making it hard to move his face in places.  


Tony turned on the tab and ran warm water over a hand towel, wringing it out before turning to look at his patient. “As soon as Bruce gets here we will have him give you a proper check up, but there’s no need to look like a car crash victim in the mean time.” he reached forward to take hold of Loki’s chin and begin cleaning his face, dabbing at it carefully to remove the blood. Loki tried to lean back, suppressing a whine of pain and winching as the hands worked as gently as they could.  


“The more you move the more it hurts, and Bruce is the one with pain killers.” Tony said sarcasm heavy in his tone. “I’m not really the nurse type, I mean I probably would look great in a skirt, but I’m trying to be nice here, so sit still”  
“It is not wise to move people who might have suffered neck and back injuries.” Loki hissed, finally letting Tony take hold of his face properly, the hand continued to be as gentle as ever as Tony continued his work being as thorough as possible.  


“You came at me with a knife Grumpy Cat, so I’m pretty sure your neck isn’t broken.” Tony teased, though his brown eyes looked concerned as he assessed the damage to Loki’s right eyebrow. There was a cut that went into his hairline, which had matted his black hair with blood.  


There was a long silence while Tony worked, Loki’s eyes catching his every so often, observing the man up close in a completely different light from before.  
“Why help me?” Loki asked, looking into Tony’s eyes. “There’s no reason for it.” Unless…  
Tony chuckled. “Cuz you’re awesome.” He leaned back to assess his work thus far. “I mean, you’re an internationally known thief, who wouldn’t be excited.”  
Loki stayed quiet; that wasn’t the answer he had been expecting. Tony smiled at him sensing he had hit a bad subject too early on what he wanted to be a fun evening.  
“You feeling alright?” he asked, smile fading as he ran his hand across Loki’s cheek. He was about to ask something when Pepper appeared at the bathroom door.  
“Tony, Jarvis said you were in here, and look I found Bruce wandering around with a medical kit.” Her tone was dry and disapproving as she stood by with her arms crossed in the doorway.  


Bruce was standing behind her, slouched and tiered but upon seeing Loki bloody and hunched on the toilet seat he immediately side stepped her. He knelt before the young man giving him a kind smile defined by wrinkles.  
“Don’t you look like a train ran you down.” He tried to joke, because Bruce Banner was not the best with his people skills, and it was things like astro-physics and the composition of matter that broke the tension between him and the few people he called friends. Loki frowned sadly at him. “I’m gonna try to get you bandaged up, though I do suggest you have a proper doctor give you a good look over once you can leave.” He turned to look at Tony when he said doctor to show emphasis.  


“You’re more than qualified.”  
“Not for what could be head trauma and a broken what ankle.” Bruce countered, shaking his head as he opened his bag.  
“My ankle is twisted, and my wrist might be sprained or broken. I can’t really walk.” Loki supplied, resting a hand protectively over his swollen wrist.  
“Sure you start talking to him immediately.” Tony sighed moving away; now really feeling like their evening was ruined. “You’ve hardly said full sentences to me.” He sulked behind Bruce.  


“Tony,” Pepper pulled on his arm, “let Bruce work I need to talk to you.”  
She scrunched her nose a little once she got a better look at him, his Black Sabbath shirt was blood splattered and there was blood on his arm and around his neck like a collar.  


“What mom.” He sighed, slumping down to sit on a stool that was a few feet away from the bathroom door.  
“Tony please, you’re not a child, and he is not a pet.” Pepper hissed, spine straight while she looked over him with her hands at her hips and a frown pulling her lips.  
“I know,” Tony bounced his knees. “I just feel bad for him,” Tony tried to shrug it off, “He’s young… younger than I thought.” Tony ran a hand through his hair making it stand on end giving him a slightly frazzled look. "Twenty something, and he is broke into Stark HQ and made off with three CPUs.”  


“Which is why you should have let the cops take him.” Pepper frowned switching her weight from one healed foot to the other.  
“Why? So what? I wanted to meet this guy, he’s amazing, I set up the final round of the security in that lab.” He sounded breathless “And he broke through them! Who can do that?” His eyes shone brightly, full of excitement and fascination, the way he looked when he invented something new.  


“You’re not coming with me tomorrow, are you?” Pepper sighed, turning to lean against the wall beside him. He blue eyes fell on the marble flooring, but they weren’t looking.  
“When he broke into HQ you couldn’t stop talking about him, and then you kept following the paper trails and news articles and honestly you were a bit nauseating.” She sighed, closing her eyes and leaning her head back, tilting it this way and that, she could feel the beginning of a tension headache forming.  
“That bad?” Tony chuckled looking up at her from the chair.  
“Yeah…that bad…” she shook her head, sighing at him, never looking down at him  
“Jarvis, please notify the authorities if something questionable happens. Or if Tony almost dies while I’m gone.”  
“Yes Ms. Potts.”  


\-----  


There was a light tapping on the door and Loki shot up with a start, grouping in his half asleep and medicated haze for his knife. “Hay, Hay Loki, its okay. Just bringing you lunch” Tony’s voice was attempting to stifle a giggle.  
“Grumpy kitty cat, are you always this defensive?” he sat on the edge of the bed and placed a tray of fruit, soup and toast on Loki’s lap. Loki froze, hands bawling into fists gripping the duvet as he eyed the tray and then looked up at his caretaker.  
“You’re keeping me prisoner, am I supposed to be gracious and sweet?” he hissed angrily  
“Breath Loki, I could have given you over to the cops, but I’m being gracious and taking care of you, bringing you lunch.” He crossed his arms, looking very smug and proud. “Look how nice I’m being, this isn’t jail, this is hotel quality service.”  


Loki slumped back, relaxing his grip on the bedding. He chewed on his cheek as he considered that maybe this was actual kindness and not a means to get something from him. That was the kind of life he was used to. Kindness is not free, and manipulative assholes are at every corner, he would know he’s one of them.  


He wondered when he would be allowed to leave. This was his second full day here and he was starting to feel aggravated by the four walls, even if he had spent the majority of the first two days asleep due to pain killers. He hoped he’d be released sooner rather than later, even if it meant dragging his bad leg behind him the whole way out, though the possibility of just being let go seemed unlikely. To be honest with himself, he doubted anyone had ever really found themselves in a situation like this, you break in intending to steal something and your would be victim decides to take care of you. Who did that? Who actually took in someone who tried to break into their house and took care of their injuries and then sent them on their happy way. He hadn’t even received a scolding for the attempted robbery. Well, Tony was pretty nice about it all, Pepper tried to give him a telling off over the phone in his room. Jarvis had patched the call through and she had threatened him prison and lawsuits.  


To be entirely honestly he didn’t remember much of the scolding, because the medication Dr. Banner had gotten him made him very drowsy and had him practically in a coma. Where he suspected most people would be perfectly alright with this level of solid and restful sleep Loki hated it. He liked rest, but detested the dreams that came with proper deep sleep. Messages were always interwoven with each other in these dreams, and it was hard to pull out the reality from the fanciful fantasies of the never resting mind.  


Tony was always showing up just as he was waking up, carrying a try of food, mostly soups so far with rolls and crackers.  
“Bruce said I should try to feed you things rich in vitamins, and I think that soup covers that.” He shrugged grinning at Loki who sat still looking at him blankly as he blinked slowly, pushing away the haze of sleeps consumption.  
“Do I have to spoon feed you?” Tony asked when Loki didn’t start eating for himself. He lifted up the spoon and carefully fished out a spoonful of vegetables leaving it to hover at level with Loki’s face. “Open up” he said in a would be sing song voice which caused a screech of horror to escape the thief.  
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he asked in a croaking voice.  


His outburst only succeeded at making a roar of laughter explode from Tony. “Just lightening the mood sunshine.”  
Loki glared at him and reluctantly took the spoon in his mouth, glaring daggers at the older man. He turned his hand away, pulling the spoon out of his mouth and not allowing Tony to have it back. “Normal people don’t coddle their prisoners, or their assailants.” Loki had another spoonful, this time blowing on the liquid a bit before eating it. He was so hungry, and he couldn’t tell if this was actually homemade or from a can, so this was an upgrade to his usual dinners.  
“Says the guy who broke into my house, which by the way isn’t exactly a normal profession, especially when you’re known for steeling only the weird shit,” Tony raised an eyebrow “What’d you try to steal from CERN anyway? That was your last break in right? They’re kind of underground for a reason.”.  


“I didn’t try, I succeeded, and that’s none of your business.” Loki snapped, moving on to the piece of toast.  
That was as far as he allowed the conversation to go, he continued to glare at Tony, ignoring the hammering in his chest caused by the man's proximity and the stories his subconscious was telling him. He did not want to let this man in, and he knew he might not be able to avoid that. He eyes Tony with distrust every time he tried to say something, which worked magnificently to quiet him. Maybe his frown was reminiscent of Pepper, or maybe few people actually stood up to Tony, either way Loki was getting left mostly alone.  
“So you actually broke into CERN.” Tony sounded amazed and used his question as a greeting the next morning when he came in with a tray of pancakes pre-syrup and a glass of orange juice. “I thought that was a failed robbery, the news insisted nothing was taken and that you were stopped by security but managed to escape capture.”  


Loki snorted “Lies, the media will never be honest with its people. They fear the power knowledge will provide, especially knowledge that their impenetrable facilities are not as fortified as they hope.” He chewed slowly, enjoying the look of amazement Tony was giving him.  


“Have you ever failed at any of your break-ins?” he asked, turning his position so he was leaning against the headboard too, clearly making himself comfortable for story time.  


He considered lying, but decided it could do no harm to be honest. He guessed they were on about day 4 together and Tony was as cheerful and welcoming as ever. Tony was clearly amazed by him and he had no means of escaping or changing his current predicament. “Only twice.” He grinned “No one will report the majority of my more creative endeavors; people might stop trusting those that keep them safe.”  


“You mean you’ve committed more thefts than the ones we are told about, but why?” Tony turned his head to look down at him, watching him sip his orange juice.  
“From what I figured out you’re pretty well off financially, not rich, but you have a decent amount to live with and you don’t exactly take stuff you can turn around and sell, so I figured you’re building something, most of its mechanical or engineering based, so what are you making?”  


“Can’t tell you, I’d have to kill you, and you’re being such a gracious host, can’t have my current hide out endangered.” Loki smirked up at Tony.  


“Oh, so now I’m a hide out, you were just complaining about being a prisoner yesterday.”  


“You have your uses; you’re clearly enamored with me.” He took another sip of his juice not looking at Tony who was turning red beside him. Loki could feel the change as if it was a flower blooming beside him. That’s how feelings worked as energy from people. The aura erupted from people like a flower in bloom, especially when they were content and comfortable.  


“Look at you snuggling up beside me, I’ve killed people.” He took a bite form his pancakes and changed his mind about eating after all, instead pushing the tray away from himself onto the bed. “I’ve gutted spies that followed me and left them broken for the remainder of their lives, however short I might have made them, and here you are curled up beside me like a sweet loving pet.” He reached up and pulled Tony closer, feeling the energy the man gave off waver and shudder under his touch. His fingers traced the lines of Tony’s face as he felt the warm blush continue to creep up his neck even as his jaw became set.  


“You don’t know me Tony Stark, I could be lying to you now, you hardly know me, just the fanciful stories you read on the news and in your blogs.”  


Tony did what he could to detach himself, he began to breathe hard as he pulled away from the thin strong arms. He felt caged and uncomfortable, and his cardiologist was probably going to be very much against the amount of stress and blood his heart was pumping through itself.  


“Are you actually threatening me?” Tony asked in a hushed voice, standing up straight to feel more in control, making Loki grin at him devilishly. Tony didn’t say another word as he left, closing the door with a soft snap of the latch catching. He didn’t return to bring Loki lunch instead sending one of the robots he had created to deliver a tray.  
“Do you have a name?” he asked it, because if Jarvis had a name, and he had heard someone be called Dummy chances are if there were others they’d be named too.  


“This is Dummy.” Jarvis offered, speaking to him for the first time since he was left under his supervision.  
“How sweet.” Loki said dryly, “Not very creative with the naming, is he.” He ate his sandwich chewing slowly, it was some sort of meat and cheeses aberration, that typically would not be anything Loki would put together for himself, but he was hungry. The stories of the health process were true it seemed, give yourself time to rest and your body will demand all that it has been owed with interest.  
“What else has Tony made?” He asked Jarvis. “There are other robots I assume, are there other AI?” he asked looking overhead as if searching for a face or body to address.  


“I am the only AI in residence, and there is a team of robotics for various tasks throughout the household.” Jarvis responded. “Are you in need of anything sir?”  


“No…” Loki sighed. He considered that maybe he shouldn’t have threatened the one person available to speak with him, he didn’t exactly have a large group of friends or even acquaintances, still making close friends or being scrutinized up close was dangerous to his cover. But perhaps this was one of things in his life that was just meant to happen this way, like Thor. He’d dreamed about Thor before as well.  


Tony returned that night at dinner time, carrying a pizza box and two beer bottles.  
“Am I allowed to mix this with the medications I’m on?” he asked purposely offering up his left hand to drive the point home with the bandages.  


“Chances are you’ll only get drunk faster, we’ll give you water.” Tony shrugged sitting down on the edge of the bed and balanced the box on his own knees.  


“If I die of alcohol poisoning I will haunt you to your grave.” Loki said, taking the bottle.  
“What’s with all the threats? I’m not trying to hurt you.” Tony sighed, acting more hurt than he was, “I feel so threatened, and hurt really, my heart can’t take this level of stress.”  


Loki tried not to laugh at the sarcasm in the other’s voice. They ate mostly in silence, clearly both enjoying the company of another person.  


“How long have I been here?” Loki finally asked, breaking the silence after his 3rd slice.  
“Bout 5 days, you sleep like the dead, an entire day can go by and you won’t wake up to even use the restroom or eat. Bruce said you lost a lot of blood, so we expected it, but not like this.” He sounded impressed.  


Tony dusted his hands over the edge of the bed, leaning back against the headboard to finish his beer. Loki nodded, not remembering much of anything other than his dreams, which were starting to grow repetitive and uncomfortable to even his waking self. He felt warm and fuzzy around the edges as he tilted his head back and drained the remainder of his bottle in a long series of gulps.  
“Slow down cowboy it’s not going anywhere.” Tony commented, noticing that the pink was rising to Loki’s face who shrugged with his good arm. “Kitty Burglar has no tolerance.” He took the empty bottle from him, plucking it out of his fingers that were toying with the neck and body of the brown bottle, making him feel very uncomfortable.  


“I’m not really a drinker.” Loki sighed, leaning back on the headboard as well, looking over at Tony with a dreamily look on his face. “Not necessarily good for me, considering things, but why the fuck not, I’m pretty fucked as it is, and things will only get more interesting from here.” He looked around the room, shuddering when his eyes landed on the window and then turned back to Tony, smiling warmly up at him.  


Tony frowned at him, maybe alcohol wasn’t the best idea, strictly speaking he wasn’t supposed o be having I either, but it was a good social lubricant and he wanted to get back on Loki’s good side. “You’re being terribly creepy and cryptic.” He said put his beer bottle down on the nightstand.  


“Am I Mr. Stark.” Loki giggled a little to himself. “Maybe you just don’t know the whole story, I’ve been watching it in bits and pieces in my head for days now and I’m going to give up on keeping it from happening.”  


“One beer and your hammered, remind me never to invite you to a mixer or anything like that.”  


“But you have already.” Loki nodded to himself, very pleased with where he was as he leaned against the broader shoulder to rest his head. “We’ve met before you and I.”  


His fingers were tracing designs that Tony couldn’t make out in the air before them.  


“Have we?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow at the happy drunk beside him. Another giggle escaped Loki, but this one was higher and girlish, the farthest sound possible from his usual deep smooth speaking voice. “We didn’t really get to spend much time together Mr. Stark.” The voice was feminine, but rich and throaty, and Loki’s green eyes shown with mischief and flirtation. It seemed familiar and strange to Tony. In a very out of context way, this seemed familiar, and the little voice in the back of his mind was screaming to wake up and pay attention.  


The image of a leggy someone with demanding green eyes and a clever red painted mouth came to him. She was young and pretty with sharp features that were a contradiction to the fluidity and grace of her movements. She had so much command in her surroundings and herself that she immortalized an image of herself in his dreams, and the only reason he had escaped her the last time was by being dragged away by Pepper. Her hair was flowing and jet black falling around her shoulders in waves, exposing her delicate neck whenever she moved. Her person was what captivated his attention that night the most, rather than she chasing him around like all the girls that usually fawned over him, he came up to her, intrigued by the demand and sensuality she seemed to give off like scent in the air. He had been hoping to go somewhere with her alone, because she made him with a look want to turn over the reigns of the situation and let her lead him wherever she wanted him to go. That hadn’t happened in a long time, and occasionally he still fantasized about the nameless girl with that much control over him, and not in the scary way like Pepper had over him. Pepper, that’s why he hadn’t gone with her, she’d charged right up to them, pulled the girl off of him and dragged him away by the tie, threatening to strangle him it if he didn’t go see the investors and play his part for the evening.  


“We almost had a fantastic night together Mr. Stark.” The voice seductively growled in his ear, bringing him back to reality as long thin fingers tracing down his jaw and then his throat. “I heard you still knew how to give a girl a good time, and I put on my nicest dress, showing just enough shoulder and back to catch your eye.”  


The voice turned defiantly male when Loki began to giggle in his ear, flushed and still happily drunk beside him. “I’m good at what I do darling Mr. Stark.” He placed a kiss on his cheek. “Too bad Ms. Potts interrupted us before I could go interrogate you in a more private location about what that thing on your chest was because it made such a nice vibrating hum against my hands when I kissed you.”  


“That was you.” Tony said more than asked and he turned to look incredulity down at Loki who sported a very wide grin on his thin lips.  


“I had heard you invented a way of making pure energy that needed no recharge once it was turned on, perpetual motion, it sounded impossible and there were no publications officially on it, so I had to meet you and ask.” Loki nuzzled into Tony’s neck scraping his bruised cheek against carefully trimmed goatee.  


“And what is Tony Stark’s greatest weakness?” he kissed his jaw, changing his position to sit on his hip to be pressed closer to Tony “before you disappeared it had been a good bottle of alcohol and a pretty face,” he planted another tender kiss on his jaw “did you know there’s social groups on Facebook dedicated to the woman, and a few men that have had the ability to say they had a night with Tony Stark?” Loki laughed again, sighing this time as he held tight to Tony. “Tony Stark gets chatty when drunk, drinking, or in the middle of sex some of them whined that they never understood what you were rambling about.”  


“I do remember you,” Tony said slowly feeling very uncomfortable.  


“I’m good at what I do.” Loki nibbled on his earlobe and made a shiver run down his spine. “You never even knew I was a man, did you.” Loki grinned honestly amused at Tony’s discomfort “Was that what I was looking for?” he asked hand sliding down slowly to Tony’s chest, feeling the pulse quickening under his mouth, but no flutter from his heart “The machine that sat in here.”  


“The Ark Reactor,” Tony corrected  


“Yes the Ark Reactor,” Loki ran his hand across the flat of the other man’s chest “Glad I don’t have to kill you anymore for it.” He sounded a little lost as he whispered in Tony’s ear.  


“You’ve never really killed anyone, have you?” Tony said slowly tiling his head to look Loki in the eye, but couldn’t really see past the messy black hair. He reached around and patted the hair instead.  


Loki smiled weakly into his neck “can’t say yes, can’t say no.” he twisting, releasing Tony and putting some distance between them, feeling like a weight had fallen into his chest and was compressing the air out of him. “My hand hurts, I require more medications.”  


He heard Tony leave the room and he curled up on himself, ignoring the discomfort it caused his bruised hip and twisted ankle. Loki felt exposed and raw and dizzy it had been years since he’d let himself grow comfortable enough to get that close to anyone. Not even his family was permitted to hug him. He snarled at the memory of his family and cling to the pillows that had been supporting his left side while he had slept.  


Loki started dozing off while he waited for Tony to return, part of him wanting the man to stay away, and another part longing for the company. Eventually Tony returned to sit beside a sleeping Loki, brushing his shoulder length hair out of his face. In his sleep Loki leaned in more, making a content sound deep in his throat.  


“Can’t say you’re the first guy I’ve kissed.” He laughed at himself, sighing as he looked down at the sleeping face.  


Hours later Loki woke up to find Tony still sitting in the room. He groaned at the sensation in his head, as if it was swimming in something unpleasant, and the dry disgusting taste in his mouth. He hadn’t meant to tell Tony anything, or share that they had met before, but he knew he said a lot of stupidity while he was not in his right state of mind.  


“So have you been stalking me ever since or what?” Tony asked, grinning at him. It produced another groan from Loki who his head under the comforter. He wasn’t hung over, but it all felt like a very bad dream, though if it was a dream he’d never be able to avoid this situation either.  


“Water?” Tony offered, poking him in the head with a bottle of water, which he desperately wanted, so he let his weight roll him onto his back and he pushed himself up with his good hand. “I searched for other means to the required energy for my projects; unfortunately there was an accident at your plant that required me to return to the original.” Tony offered him two pills which he took and chased down with water.  


“I can’t give you my ark reactor, nor will you be able to just take it.” Tony smiled “Right Jarvis?”  
“That is correct sir.”  
Loki sighed in disgust at the smugness the two shared “Your technology exceeds my expectations.” He said which Tony took as a compliment.  
“Jarvis, I think he’s impressed by you.” Tony laid down beside Loki, clearly back to not caring about the possibility of being this close to a would be murderer.  
“Now if you told us what it is you were trying to make, we might be able to help you.” Tony offered, waving his hands above himself for emphasis.  
“My experiments are none of your concern, nor do I wish to have your assistance.”  


“Suet yourself, but I am offering, I want to see what all that stuff is going to make, because as far as I can tell your den of secrets houses a large collection of stuff big enough to royally piss off more than a couple scientist, which originally were the owners of these things.”  


“You wouldn’t believe me even if I did try to explain.” Loki said, a wishful tone of sadness marring his voice, “Though using your lab might be entertaining, you are rumored to have all the best odds and ends at your disposal, and I wouldn’t have to re-appropriate anything and wait between my scouting missions to continue my work.”  


“Well, you’d be invited into my lab if you let me into your fortress of solitude.”  


Loki leaned back in bed to give him a proper look over. Did he actually intend to hand him the ability to do his work just like that? There was always a catch to alliances, especially when you have been the catalyst to the other person’s troubles. “Perhaps…” he trailed off. Loki turned to face away, wrapping his arms around his torso to hug himself.  


“Are you always this mysterious?” Tony asked, the blush had completely faded down his neck by now but the energy about him still wavered in a similar way.  


“Do you always invite the people to break into your home to stay?” Loki countered “Or am I special?” he turned his head enough to give him a coy look over his shoulder.  
The little ass is playing me, Tony thought.  


“Hay I’m not saying move in with me or anything, I’m just offering you a way to do your work, it sounds pretty fun.” Tony tried to act cool, but Pepper’s words about how smitten he was acting with the guy echoed in his mind and made him very uncomfortable.  
Tony had tried after the break in at HQ to shake off the warm feeling of excitement he felt every time he caught news about the young man stealing stuff from his competitors, but it had never worked. At least he had grown to accept that at the very least he had an intellectual crush on the other man.  


“I still don’t understand why you are so willing.”  


“You’ve broken into my offices on another occasion, no time stamps of it on the cameras, and you never tripped any of the alarms. In fact you reprogrammed some of my security settings while you were there, like it wasn’t anything harder than taking a walk in the park.” Tony said breathless. “That’s why I don’t have basic security here, just in case you showed up, you’d be faced with Jarvis.” Loki could hear the grin in his voice. “I wanted to fucking congratulate you, and shake your hand after you broke into Stark Industries, because I programmed that shit, and no one has managed to do even a tenth of what you did to my designs. Pepper had to stop me from putting an add out that I was searching for you and would pay to see a redo of what you had done.” Tony chuckled remembering how angry he had made Pepper that day.  


A grin pulled at his lips, higher on one side than the other as he smiled turned to Loki. “You’re not what I was expecting.”  
At some point Loki had turned to face him again, sitting up straighter as if with pride when the words of admiration had been spoken, and then his back slouched again, “I’ve never been what anyone was expecting.” He continued to curl in on himself, lying down once more to hide in the bedding, because he still felt raw, like someone had yanked on bandages that had become one with scabbing from old forgotten injuries and given it a violent yank. He hid his face from Tony, digging his nose into the bed close to Tony’s hip; turning away would only let the man hover above him with a better view.  


“I’m tired.” He said, voice muffled by the comforter his good arm was adjusting.  
Tony understood he’d said something wrong, but he hadn’t expected a sulking reaction, maybe something spitting and angry, but not seclusion. He decided against staying, he’d only say something to make the situation worse somehow.  
“Tell Jarvis if you need me…or something…” He got up and left, taking the tray with him, the door clicking shut quietly behind him as if in defeat.  


No lock, Loki thought, not that I can get far with my leg as it is. He lay in bed, the feeling of self disgust churning his stomach in knots while his chest felt like it was swelling and warm. He hated feelings of compassion and kindness because he didn’t understand them. No one had shown him love and affection like they did his brother Thor at his Father’s home. The man didn’t even deserve the title of Father, he thought angrily. It had been years since he had seen his Mother and brother, the only two people who had shown him proper kindness and interest in his well being. Most people sought to gain from meeting him, or forming alliances, few were every really interested in him and who he was, and here sat Tony Stark, known as the world’s biggest skirt chaiser, who had billions of dollars to his name, could run for president of his country and have his ability to play himself up win him the election, and he was sitting around, watching over Loki. His eyes spoke volumes of his affection, dark brown eyes shining with interest and warmth for him. Eyes that looked at him differently now as he lay in a bed in this man’s home, weak and unable to protect himself, versus when they had met at that party.  


Those eyes had been playful and appraising, sliding up like a caress over his green dress with the open teardrop back. They had been flirting offering the kind of night escapade Loki had fantasized about as a teenager, though admittedly he had never thought he would have been in a dress for these adventures to happen. He craved these kinds of spy missions he set for himself, because at least for a little while he could pretend that he was someone special and admirable, even if it meant putting on heels and a wig.  
Loki’s thoughts drifted as he lay in silence, what would Thor have said had he seen the turns his brother has taken to reach his goal. Would he have still let him escape their Father’s domain? Thor didn’t hate me after he got hurt, so I doubt a dress would really get to him, nor would my occasional male flings, he thought as he clung to the pillows.  


“Jarvis?” he called out, “May I see the internet somehow while in this room?” he asked, I don’t appreciate the silence.” He added, because it was true, his head was swimming through too many things that hurt his heart.  
“Yes sir, there are no restrictions to your access of the internet or the phone lines.” A holographic display floated off the side of the bed, level with Loki’s eyes. “Run a search for twitter account snootyjudynews posted on July 15th. All of the micro posts had pictures with them, the gossip tabloids and newspapers had all been hammering at the doors to get access into the hotel, when they could have easily booked a room for the night before the event and just waited to go downstairs when most of the guests had arrived.  
Loki found the picture he was after, a well dressed Tony Stark was in profile in the long lenses shot, with a raven haired woman with her back mostly to the camera, her hand was resting on the spot in the middle of his chest, while Tony’s fingers brushed her hair off of her shoulder to expose her, in actuality Loki’s, shoulder.  


“Might I ask, why are we searching for this subject sir?” Jarvis asked, polite as ever.  
“Sometimes you need to go back and examine what you’ve done wrong to get something right.” Loki answered distracted.  
“Have you made a mistake sir?”  


“More than one.” Loki said flicking his hand at the image and watching it enlarge as he had expected. “I’ve lost count.”  
Loki was lost in the image, remembering how he had felt the buzzing beneath his fingers. Every question he had asked had been derailed by expertly placed kisses from Tony that had shot thrills down his spine that he hadn’t the slightest shame in. Had Ms. Potts not interfered they would have surely ended up in some corner of the hotel together.  
Jarvis said something that pulled him from his daydream  


“Sorry what?”  
“It is in the nature of science that errors must be committed to receive results.”  
Loki turned to look at the ceiling “That’s very optimistic of you.” He chuckled.  
“I am programmed to not allow defeat postpone progress.”  
“Does that mean Tony gets unmotivated or something?” Loki grinned; it was hard to imagine the man as anything but rapid fire and energy for construction.  
“He was young once.” Jarvis said simply. Loki raised an eyebrow.  
“And you were around for that?” he was mocking the AI but he doubted it would care, or maybe it would. It seemed that it was programmed to be as human as possible; Tony must have been lonely at some point to make himself a human companion rather than finding an actual person.  
“I am capable of being updated.”  


“Impressive.” Loki rolled onto his back to look up at the ceiling, it spread out above him entirely blank, but he felt it more adequate to speak to the room as a whole when taking to the AI.  
“Wish I’d made something constructive as a kid…”  


“Pardon my assumption Sir, but you are hardly 25, compared to some of us you are still a kid.” Loki raised an eyebrow, now that didn’t sound right to be coming out of the AI.  
Tony sat in his lab, leaning back the desk chair, fingers making a tent out of his hands as they met level with his chest, elbows resting on the counter. He was leaned so far forward in his seat it’s like he was trying to fall into the computer screens before him, one of which was the monitor displaying security of Loki’s room.  


“Trying to cheer me up….Jarvis?” the pause was heavy with intent.  
“Tell him Bruce told you to watch out for him.” Tony told Jarvis who responded to Loki  
“Doctor Banner insisted I monitor you and make certain nothing ill befalls you while under my master’s care.”  
Tony huffed “Thanks Jarvis make it sound like I might do something.” He rolled his eyes.  
“Thank you, Tony doesn’t really seem capable of taking care of himself.” Loki grinned up at the room.  
It was a jab directed at him directly, assuming Loki knew Tony was watching. He crossed his arms and leaned back, frowning at Loki through the monitors.  


“You’re right though, I’m 25…” he turned his head, arms outstretched as he lay out taking up as much room as he could on the bed, thankful for all of the painkillers being provided to him. He hated sitting still, but it would be impossible to move without the drugs. “25, with a criminal record so long that if I was ever caught I’d spend the rest of my life in a cage again.” He wiggled the fingers in his bandaged hand, testing its reaction time. “Funny isn’t it, how we allow ourselves to fall back in the same cycles over and over, by all accounts I’m currently in a cage, and it’ll happen again if I don’t finish my work while I’m still young enough to blend in and hide…”  


“From what are you hiding, sir?” Jarvis asked.  
“Everything…family, responsibility, my country.” Loki rolled his wrist and winced, best not to try that again for a bit. “Name it, I’m running away from it.” He sighed “Myself…when you’ve been hiding who you are for most of your life, you forget who you started out as, and who you were originally intending to be.” He wiggled his toes under the bedding, pleased that at least they were mobile even if extremely numb.  


“How old where you?” Tony asked, and it came through in Jarvis’ voice to Loki.  
“My first attempt was at 9, Thor got hurt because he was with me in my lab. He was always in there with me, never understood what I was doing, but he wanted to see me working, and there was a short in the system somewhere…really it was the people who built the room outback, they wanted to kill us, cut off the lineage while it was young and make it look like an accident.” Loki was just talking, letting the damb break on everything he had been holding in, because no one had ever asked why. “Father had sent the order not to let us out of the house for the day, were something to happen, the threat was high on our family and everyone was investigating, but I didn’t want to have to start over, we had been burning the compounds for a week already, taking turns to tend to it. So we snuck out, and when we opened the door to the little room on the outskirts of our home we knew something was wrong. There was an explosion, made to look like it had been my fault…Thor protected me…but he couldn’t ever walk again…” He took a deep breath that came out shuddered. “Our father was furious. He had always disliked me.” He spat bitterly “His only kindness to me was letting mother take me in.”  


“My attempts of escape were ridiculous and ridiculed. It wasn’t until we were fifteen and sent off of the island for proper education at schools that would lead to universities that I tried again. Thor helped me escape, even though I was the reason he was a broken thing, he let me go.” He smiled bitterly “To the press I was a suicide, a statement was related to the world, whoever was interested in our tiny world, Prince Commits Suicide at Sea.” He laughed an angry barking sound. “That would have been braver, returning to the ocean that spat me out to them.”  


“Your work now, it’s the continuation of what you were doing as a child.” It was a statement not a question.  
“It is, was…” Loki shrugged, tears forming in his eyes out of anger, and relief for having said his story out loud for the first time in his life. He didn’t care if Tony was sitting on the other side watching, Jarvis was kind because that is how he was designed, and that is who he wanted to tell, someone who would listen without predilections that would lead to judgments.  
“My master is not keeping you here indefinitely; you are free to go whenever you are no longer unimpaired by your health so that you may continue your work.”  


“Your master is going to give me Stockholm Syndrome, treating me so sweetly, next thing you know we’ll have fallen madly in love, though the differences in our lives will cause us to refuse that this is happening.” Loki laughed at himself openly.  
“Are you alright sir?” Jarvis asked, behind him Tony was frowning.  
“A dream” Loki gaphaued “It as a dream I had once.” He sat up looking down at his hands with complete seriousness, the laughter having completely evaporated. “A dream from years ago.” he was frowning down at his fingers.  
“Do you believe in magic?” he asked the silence felt stifling and heavy even in Tony’s lab.  
“I do not understand the question.” Jarvis responded “Magic in the mythological science, the spiritual, the illusion, or the fantastical?” Jarvis asked, his one riddled with uncertainty.  


“I believe in all of them.” Loki replied, eyes still trained on his hands, one bandaged one callused and scarred. They were the hands of a gardener, with calluses in places, but an artist’s fingers with length and fluidity in every movement.  
“Sometimes I dream about things that will happen, sometimes I dream of other worlds that we are a part of but will never see as ourselves.”  


There was a twisting feeling in Tony’s chest, and he worried that perhaps Loki really was as crazy as some of his fan sites declared. Still he had respect for him; genius was always involved with a touch of madness. This, again, was something he had not expected from Loki at all, magic? Really? But it was magic? Harry Potter, Narnia, that sort of stuff that was limited to stories and unfounded in facts.  
“Your attempts consist of mixing magic and science?” Jarvis was trying to keep up, he was programmed to learn, but these concepts were a bit out of his parameters. He didn’t believe in a god, he wasn’t programmed to do so, nor did he believe that there were things outside of the realm of factual reality.  


“I am succeeding, not trying.” Loki continued to sit very still focusing on his hands.  
“Has your belief system influenced how you perceive the world, and in particular the things you’ve created?”  
“There isn’t such a thing as exact matter; everything is ever changing in nature that is how I perceive the world. Spirits, energy, matter, everything has it and it’s ever shifting.” He slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You no doubt are not programmed to run this sort of theories, though you are designed to assist in the design of other machines, it is outside of the laws of your nature to comprehend these concepts, and yet it is necessary to believe that things can operate like you do to create others of your kind.”  
“But Sir, the only attempted accounts for what you are describing were the Alchemists in the middle ages, and other time periods in history, which have been proven wrong by the laws of physics and chemistry.” Jarvis was scrutinizing him, and Loki actually felt a little bad for him, humans were more open to this sort of debate, because they were by nature creatures who wanted to believe in something beyond themselves, machines, no matter how artistically and human like they were created were still programmed to certain limits. Surly Tony would be working on this expansion to his design soon.  


“Sometimes it takes a person with the right skills to make things work.” Loki turned to look up directly at the camera, green eyes piercing through Tony as if they were standing face to face, a knowing smile pulled on the younger man’s thin lips and it felt like ice was dropping one block at a time into Tony’s stomach.  


“Are you that kind of person?” Tony asked. “Can you do thing most people can’t? Is that how you’ve always done it?”  
“You won’t believe the things I’ve sewn into the existence of this world.” He said, and the camera went dead. “Jarvis what’s happening?” Tony asked there was no answer; his system went into reboot mode. He shot out of his chair and up the stairs, He burst into the main floor, and the one Loki had crashed in on, and ran passed the remains of his glass cascade and then up the stairs to throw opens the door to Loki’s room. It was empty.  


“Loki?” He called looking around. It was a sealed room, and Loki still wasn’t capable of running.  
“Would you like to learn my brand of science?” The voice was Loki’s but it felt like it was leaking through the walls, like when Jarvis spoke. “It’s unlike anything you’ve ever practiced, and your AI may not keep up.”  
Tony found himself pinned to the door, Loki pressed up against him all clad in black. “Shall we?”


End file.
